The love of your life has got down on one knee and asked you to marry him and you’ve said yes. Now what? After the excitement of being newly engaged wears off, you will need to start planning a wedding ceremony and reception. The first steps toward planning your dream wedding can be the most stressful and confusing, especially if you’re a young couple new to the planning process.

Organization is Key

The best first step is getting organized. Take a trip to your local office or art supply store and get a binder you can designate as your wedding binder. Make the binder a fun project. You can decorate the outside with stickers, wording or a picture of you and your future spouse. A fun binder to keep your ideas in is the perfect way to stay organized and keep motivated to make wedding decisions.

Brainstorm!

The biggest mistake a bride to be can make is trying to plan the big day without much input from her groom. Once the whole marriage/wedding concept has sunk in and become a practical reality for you and your mate, it’s time to sit down and brainstorm. Come up with ideas for the big picture first. What time of year do you want to get married? Where do you want your ceremony to be? Do you have a theme in mind? Who do you want in your wedding party? These are excellent places to start the planning process.

Once you have a date, or even a time of year, picked out it is time to start looking at bridal magazines. Another big misstep brides can make is running out and picking up dozens of bridal magazines that feature high fashion trends for the current season. If your wedding isn’t for another year and a half and in winter, buying eighteen bridal publications for the summer of this year probably won’t end up helping you very much.

They can give you ideas to jump off of, however. During the brainstorming step, if you and your groom are having trouble articulating what you’re envisioning, being able to point to a visual example is a priceless tool.

This is where your binder comes in handy. Look through bridal magazines aimed at the season your wedding is going to take place, and cut out things you like. Don’t think about prices or other logistics; just pick out what makes you happy.

Big to Small Choices

Make the big decisions first. It’s very easy to get wrapped up in the tiny details of your ceremony and reception. Remember that you need a venue to put tables in before you need to be worried about the per 50 shipping cost of custom napkin rings. When the most important pieces of your special day are in place the smaller aspects have somewhere to fit in. All of your unique touches can seem pretty overwhelming when considered out of context with the rest of your wedding.

Have Fun

The last tip to make planning your wedding yourself an easy and fun experience is to give yourself enough time. No one likes to rush and hurrying through the planning of your wedding can lead to some very big regrets. This should be a special time for a couple and can bring the two of your closer before you commit to the rest of your lives. On the eve of your wedding you should be relaxed and ready to enjoy your hard work, not stressed and tying loose ends.